According to positive psychology (PP), positive emotions contribute to language learning by helping learners recognize their strengths and overcome obstacles. One form of PP is altruism (altruistic teaching), which requires teaching without self-focus. The present study aimed to investigate how altruism affects the emotions and second language (L2) summary writing skills of Iranian L2 learners, drawing on an experimental (comparison group, pretest–posttest) design within a sequential explanatory design. The participants of the study were 130 Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) with B1 general English language proficiency who were assigned to one intervention and one comparison group, and underwent the intervention and control intervention, respectively. Both the intervention and control intervention involved an instructional program of 12 sessions on summary writing with one teacher. What distinguished the intervention from the control intervention was that each student in the intervention group was supposed to teach for one hour one peer what they learned about English summary writing out of altruism. Analysis of the data showed that altruism has a positive instructional influence on the L2 summary writing skills of L2 learners by promoting their self-esteem, gratitude, connectedness and community, happiness, and compassion. The article ends with implications for research and practice in second language acquisition (SLA) and PP.
Using concordancers in English classes is demanding, time-consuming, and challenging to both teachers and learners. On the other hand, research points to the effectiveness of data-driven learning (DDL) in improving second/foreign language learning. The present study proposed a new task type, that is, DDL focus on form (FonF) tasks, as a combination of DDL and FonF approaches, and investigated if using such tasks improves students’ comprehension of English academic lectures. Drawing on a quasi-experimental validating quantitative data triangulation model, 124 intermediate English learners were pretested, randomly assigned to treatment and control groups, exposed to the treatment and control treatment, and post-tested on immediate and delayed academic English lecture comprehension tests. The treatment required working with 12 DDL FonF tasks, specifically proposed for the present study, during 12 45-min sessions. On the other hand, the control treatment involved working with 12 FonF tasks during 12 45-min sessions. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the study was done remotely and the tasks were sent through WhatsApp in Word and PDF formats. As part of the validating quantitative data triangulation model, semi-structured interviews were held with the learners in the experimental group to shed light on the treatment. The results of the study suggested that using DDL FonF tasks results in both temporary and durable improvement in the learners’ comprehension of English academic lectures. The study concludes that integrating DDL and FonF approaches to second/foreign language learning in the form of tasks improves academic English lecture comprehension through increase in the learner’s noticing, metalinguistic awareness, discovery learning, and agency.
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